The data to request from the packaging supplier, and why it must provide it
The information needed to compile the technical documentation is almost always held by whoever produces the packaging, and Article 16 of Regulation (EU) 2025/40 places on the supplier the obligation to transmit it. The request enforces a duty, and it should be made citing the rule.
- Legal reference
- Art. 16
- Last updated
- Official text
- Regulation (EU) 2025/40
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Whoever buys the packaging, and places it on the market under its own trademark, remains the party that draws up the declaration. But the data supporting it originates upstream.
What Article 16 says
Headed "Information obligations of suppliers of packaging or packaging materials":
"Suppliers shall provide the manufacturer with all the information and documentation necessary to enable it to demonstrate the conformity of the packaging and packaging materials with this Regulation, including the technical documentation referred to in Annex VII and required in accordance with or pursuant to Articles 5 to 11, in one or more languages that can be easily understood by the manufacturer. That information and documentation shall be provided in paper or electronic format."
Three elements matter in practice.
The scope is broad: information and documentation, not a generic statement of suitability.
The language is that of the manufacturer, not that of the supplier. A data sheet in a language the undertaking cannot understand does not satisfy the obligation.
The format is free: paper or electronic. No template is imposed, which means the party requesting it can propose the format.
Paragraph 2 adds that, for contact-sensitive packaging, the documentation required by other Union acts forms part of what must be transmitted to the manufacturer.
The list of data
The technical documentation has content set out in Annex VII, point 2. Each piece of data requested serves to fill a specific point, and requesting it in this order avoids a second round of emails.
| Data to request | Where it belongs |
|---|---|
| Description of the packaging and the use for which it is intended | Annex VII, point 2(a) |
| Materials of each component, with conceptual design and manufacturing drawings | point (b) |
| Explanation of the drawings, schemes and operation of the packaging | point (c) |
| Harmonised standards, common specifications or other technical specifications applied, with the parts applied | point (d), Arts. 36 and 37 |
| Sum of the concentrations of lead, cadmium, mercury and hexavalent chromium, in mg/kg, with method and date of the test | Art. 5(4); demonstration under Art. 5(6) |
| For food-contact packaging: PFAS values against the three limits in Art. 5(5) | Art. 5(5)(a), (b), (c) |
| If total fluorine exceeds 50 mg/kg: evidence of the fluorine quantity measured as PFAS or non-PFAS content | Art. 5(5)(c) |
| Assessments relating to recyclability, minimisation and reusable packaging | point (e), Arts. 6, 10 and 11 |
| Test reports | point (f) |
| Supplier identity, for traceability | Art. 22 |
The technical documentation must also include an adequate analysis and assessment of the risks of non-conformity: that is the part that stays with the undertaking, and that is written from the data collected.
How to request it
In writing, citing the article. A request that cites Article 16 is not a favour asked of a business partner: it is proof that the duty has been enforced, and it carries a date.
The reply is retained together with the technical documentation, because the documentation must indicate who the data came from. A value with no origin and no date is worth little in front of an inspection, and worth even less once the threshold changes.
It is advisable to request everything at once, for each packaging code, and not by product family: the technical documentation is drawn up by type of packaging.
The text to send
To be adapted in the internal references, not in substance.
Subject: Regulation (EU) 2025/40, information under Article 16
With reference to the packaging listed below, we request the information
and documentation required under Article 16 of Regulation (EU) 2025/40,
necessary to demonstrate the conformity of the packaging and packaging
materials and to draw up the technical documentation under Annex VII.
For each code, we request:
1. description of the packaging and the use for which it is intended;
2. materials of each component, with conceptual design and manufacturing
drawings, and an explanation of the drawings and schemes;
3. harmonised standards, common specifications or other technical
specifications applied, indicating the parts applied;
4. sum of the concentrations of lead, cadmium, mercury and hexavalent
chromium, expressed in mg/kg, with the test method and date;
5. for packaging intended for contact with food products, the PFAS
values against the three limits in Article 5(5), and, if total
fluorine exceeds 50 mg/kg, evidence of the fluorine quantity
measured as PFAS or non-PFAS content;
6. assessments relating to recyclability, minimisation and, where
applicable, reusability;
7. test reports.
The information is requested in [language], in paper or electronic
format, by [date].
Packaging codes: [list]
Yours faithfully,
[company name, address, VAT number]
If the data does not arrive
The obligation remains the supplier’s, but the consequence falls on whoever places the packaging on the market.
Technical documentation that is unavailable, incomplete or contains errors is one of the circumstances listed in Article 62, and for those circumstances the consequence is not a monetary penalty: it is a request to put an end to the non-compliance and, if it persists, the prohibition on making the packaging available on the market, its recall or withdrawal.
That is why the request should be made early and in writing, and the supplier’s silence should be documented: it is the difference between an undertaking that does not have the data and an undertaking that has requested it, with a date.
References
Regulation (EU) 2025/40 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 December 2024 on packaging and packaging waste, in OJ L of 22 January 2025. Applicable from 12 August 2026.
- Art. 16 · Information obligations of suppliers of packaging or packaging materials (p. 52)
- Art. 5(4), (5) and (6) · Heavy metals, PFAS, demonstration in the technical documentation
- Art. 22 · Identification of economic operators
- Art. 62 · Formal non-compliance
- Annex VII, point 2 · Content of the technical documentation
Official text: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2025/40/oj